British police have asked for a DNA sample from a girl in New Zealand said to bear a striking resemblance to the missing British girl Madeleine McCann.

The girl, who was spotted on New Year’s Eve in a store in the South Island city of Queenstown, had the same blemish on her eye — a coloboma of the iris, which occurs in only about 0.007% of the population — as Madeleine, reports national broadcaster TVNZ.

“She had the same eye defect as Madeleine. Only a very small percentage of the population have that and I was just staring at it the whole time to the point I forgot what they had purchased,” said the store owner who reported the sighting, reports the Daily Telegraph.

But the Mirror reports thatpolice in New Zealand insist that it’s a case of mistaken identity.

“Police will be sending a DNA profile to British police . . . to confirm the identity of a girl who has been mistaken for Madeleine by a member of the public,” said Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis, reports the Telegraph.

He said the girl has been mistaken for Madeleine more than once, as TVNZ reports.